A joke or what?: Public transport satisfaction at 9-year high?

I refer to the article “Commuter satisfaction in public transport at 9-year high: PTC survey” (Channel NewAsia, Feb 6).

It states that “Commuters’ satisfaction levels with public transport rose to 96.4 per cent last year, up from 91.8 per cent in 2015, according to a survey conducted by the Public Transport Council.

In terms of mean satisfaction score, respondents gave public transport 7.6 out of 10, up from 7.2 in 2015. There was improvement in commuter satisfaction across all service attributes for both bus and MRT.

Satisfaction with MRT services was at 96 per cent, up from 93.2 per cent a year ago. The mean satisfaction score also rose to 7.6, up from 7.3 in 2015. The rise was largely driven by improvements in comfort, travel time and waiting time, the survey found.

Rail reliability has also improved due to the Land Transport Authority’s and train operators’ efforts at improving maintenance and increasing manpower, as well as asset renewals on the North-South and East-West Lines, it added.

As a result, the mean distance travelled between delays of more than five minutes across the network increased by 30 per cent, from 133,000 train-km in 2015 to 174,000 train-km in 2016.

“While the number of service delays of more than 30 minutes increased by one incident in 2016, measures to improve incident management and minimise the inconvenience to commuters, such as clearer communication of information on bus bridging services and alternative routes of travel, may have mitigated a little of the impact of these major disruptions on satisfaction levels,” the council said.

The Public Transport Customer Satisfaction Survey has been conducted annually since 2006. For the latest survey, 3,869 regular bus and MRT commuters, aged 15 years and above, were randomly selected and interviewed in October 2016 at bus interchanges, bus stops and MRT stations, during both peak (7am to 9am and 5pm to 7pm) and off-peak periods.”

Almost everyone whom I showed the above to – said almost similarly – is this a joke or what?

About the Author

Leong Sze Hian has served as president of 4 professional bodies, honorary consul of 2 countries, an alumnus of Harvard University, authored 4 books, quoted over 1500 times in the media , has been a radio talkshow host, a newspaper daily columnist, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow, columnist for theonlinecitizen and Malaysiakini, executive producer of Ilo Ilo (40 international awards), invited to speak more than 200 times in over 30 countries, CIFA advisory board member, founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of Indonesia and Brunei. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors degrees and 13 professional qualifications.